The Billionaire’s Dog Played With a Child — Who Turned Out to Be His Son

Chapter 2

The next morning, Julian tried to lose himself in work. The boardroom buzzed with projections and quarterly numbers, but every chart blurred into a window he couldn’t open. He dismissed the meeting ninety minutes early and drove through the city without a destination until he found himself parked outside a small brick building on a quiet side street. A painted sign read Marigold Studio. Through the window: color everywhere, children’s paintings lining the walls, paper flowers in every shade, and in the middle of it all, Isabel Vega kneeling to tie a little girl’s shoelace.

He didn’t get out. He only watched, feeling something strange rise inside him — pride, regret, fear, all tangled. She was still building beauty from nothing. Still giving without ever asking anything in return. When she finally turned toward the window, their eyes met for a fraction of a second.

Julian’s pulse stumbled. He saw her start, then go still, confusion flickering across her face. He must have looked absurd — a grown man in an expensive car, crouched like a ghost outside her door. He started the engine and drove away before she could reach the entrance.

That night he couldn’t sleep. The image of the bracelet circled behind his eyelids, two carved letters, J. M. He paced the penthouse while Rex watched from the hearth, head tilted. Six years ago, their breakup had been final — or so he’d believed. And yet the timing, the resemblance, the look in her eyes when she saw him: it all lined up like quiet proof.